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Injustice Along The Frontera: Poetic Voices
Violence Along Mexican/American Borders-La Frontera Poetic Voices: Speaking, but who’s willing to listen The violence in Mexico is nothing new to the United States. Mexican drug lords and criminal activity have been around for decades. The fact that violence has spread to the border “Fronteras” recently has had a devastating impact on the U.S. Violence along the borders has increased immensely in the last 10 years due to drug cartels and their reign of terror for power and land control. The border has also seen its share of human smuggling, rape, political abuse, racism, and murder. Both the Mexican and the U.S. governments understand that change must occur. Families fleeing from their homes and for their lives is the norm in Mexico. Poetry Meets Border Violence Poetry serves as an outlet, a voice, and as a point of activism for these people. They have assimilated to the violence along todays “Fronteras”. Poets who live along the border write about these vicious realities as a form of expression. Poetry is an opening for individuals to express through written discourse the realties which surround them and their environments so that an awareness of these issues can bring about change. Poets and their Voices Concerning The Harsh Realties of Life Along the Border As Poet Benjamin Seanz in a PBS interview states, “Murder happens with impunity. There is no institutional system of justice that’s working. And, to me, that is not only terrifying, but profoundly sad”. Poets like Benjamin Seanz, Sheryl Luna, Rosa Alcala, Eduardo C. Corral, and Emmy Perez understand that any Latino rhetoric, writing, or poetry would not be complete, if it did not include the daily struggles which occur along the U.S. and Mexican borders. Violence and All It's Ugliness These are the realities of illegal immigration along the borders. The content in this type of poetry gives readers an understanding of what individuals in these circumstances have to endure. Mexicans crossing illegally into the United States are at risk of rape, torture, death, and exploitation. The U.S. may offer Mexican immigrants a better life, in comparison to their home counrtry which is filled with corruption and drug wars. The violence they witness and survive is unimaginable to the human mind. '' Expression Through Poetry '' In the book "The Wind Shifts, New Latino Poetry", ''Rosa Alcala, describes the migration of illegals in her poem “Migration”. The poem is as follows: ''“Migration” '' In sleep, two unlikely Countries bordering Bodies vigilant To attack; at times Axis, at times Ally. Tonight we lie awake, one hand on each other’s gate. How far to open it, how far to slip through. What casualty will this bed bring. Our chests idle their tired patrol. In confusion we might smuggle each other past all regret. And we are only One foot into the other’s long walk home. Which direction to take: forward or forfeit? (14) 'Analyisis of the Poem "Migration" By Rosa Alcala' Alcala describes what an individual crossing illegally into the U.S. might feel as they migrate from Mexico into the United States. This is just one of many poems that gives readers a view into the various facets of immigration and borderlands. Most Americans who do not live along the border, never truly understand what is happening in these regions. Most Americans ,who do not live along borders, only hear brief stories about actual events from sources such as news networks. Only people who live in these areas truly see the struggles the people along the “Frontera” endure on a daily basis. '"The Wind Shift: New Latino Poetry"' 'Edited By: Francisco Aragon' '''Poems of Violence:' -"This Breathless Minute" by Naomi Ayala -"Barrio Speedwagon Blues" by Urayoan Noel -"To a Mojado Who Died Crossing the Dersert" by Eduardo C. Corral -"3 Little Pigs" by Paul Martinez Pompa -"Police Dog" by Paul Martinez Pompa -"Night" by Paul Martinez Pompa -"The City of Date Fruits and Bullet Wounds" by John Olivares Espinoza Christopher Carmona's Book "I Have Always Been Here" Book Description: "I Have Always Been Here" resists the lie that Chican@ language, culture, and people are somehow foreign to the American experience, for Chican@ ancestry is as much Native American -indigenous to the U.S. Southwest - as it is now European and African. A Chican@ Beat poet from the Rio Grande Valley of deep South Texas, Carmona explores his own discovery of this truth in this, his second poetry collection, written in a natural, engaging style." (Minutes 6-8) Isaac Chavarria Book "POXO" Book Description: ' ' "This collection of poetry revisits those uprooted and attempting to adjust to life in the United States, and walks into the lives of the barrio-colonia where canals, orange groves, and streets intersect. It settles in the mexclado of raza: anglos, tejanos, im migrants, chican@s, transients, y mas. Welcome to un topsy turvy poxo world, where the fl awed and perfect speak the same." The Frontera and it's Effects on Immigrant Students If the drug cartel comes knocking on your door, and asks you to leave, you do so to stay alive and avoid the alternative which is death. I have been an ESL teacher along this “Frontera” for 18 years now, and have recently seen firsthand the impact violence has had on children, our community, and on our lives. When I first started out as an educator, the violence was most prevalent in the interior of Mexico. In 1996, Hanna High School was considered to be one of the most prominent public schools in Brownsville, Texas due to the medical program which was in place at the time. The students from Mexico who came were from well to do families where violence or threats to their lives forced them to flee their homes. Kidnappers threatened family members of the individuals who were taken by using scare tactics such as dismemberment of body parts for ransom requests. Many children who come to the US for schooling have to live with guardians, relatives, and sometimes even strangers. These are the ones with the means to send their children to safer places. These are the ones that have a second chance at a new nonviolent life. It is extremely important to understand all of the variables involved in and along our borderlands. "No Hablen Espanol" by Diana Castro Garcia' Where is my heart, it’s where my children go. They go to school seeking knowledge, but knowledge here comes at a price. No hablen Espanol. Only English ,they say. Where is my heart, It’s where my children go. Tests, tests, tests, but I don’t understand. Is this really a better life for me? No hablen Espanol. Only English ,they say. Where is my heart, it’s where my children go. I cross the border seeking hope, seeking compassion, but all I get are teachers that are mad, teachers that are tired. Maestra, what did I do wrong? No hablen Espanol. Only English, they say. Where is my heart, It’s where my children go. We’re leaving the bullets, we‘re leaving the violence, we’re leaving the rape and murder, we want to know, we want learn, Who will hear me? My voice is hushed… No hablen Espanol. Only English, they say. Only English, Only English, Only English. Benjamin Saenz Outlook of The Border Today this violence has spread closer to borders, and has spilled over to the U.S. Writers and poets alike are using their words to bring attention to the horrific acts taking place along Mexican borderlands. Saenz explains in his interview on PBS, “So, some people leave. Some people have to stay. Some people still come back and forth. Some people try to live as normal a life…Some people do move if they have the means. This is when borders do become fluid. Wealthy people can move anywhere they want. Wealthy people are welcome anywhere in the world, which then we have to say then borders are really to keep out the poor.” Many of the individuals trapped in this world of poverty and violence do not have the means to leave, only the rich can find safe havens. Unfortunately, this is the cold hearted truth about borders. '' Poet Ben Saenz Considers'' Mexico’s Border Violence Latino poet Benjamin Saenz shares his writing from his home near the US, Mexico border, a region where violent drug wars have raged in recent years. His latest collection is called The Book of What Remains. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/video/237 Video ' Poem Found in: The Book of What Remains "Meditation on Living in the Desert No. 8 Do not attempt to cross the desert on foot. This is serious business. Ask any Mexican. If you don't trust Mexicans, ask any Border Patrol officer- though some of them are Mexican, too. - Benjamin Saenz Purpose for this Wiki Page My hope is then, that more individuals of Latino heritage continue to voice their understanding of this area through poetry and writing so that awareness and education can evoke change. Work Cited: Aragon, Francisco. The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry. Tucson: U of Arizona, 2007. Print Mata, Irene. "Writing on the Walls: Deciphering Violence and Industrialization in Alicia Gaspar De Alba’s Desert Blood." MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S. 35.3 (2010): 15- 40. JSTOR. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. "Poet Ben Saenz Considers Mexico’s Border Violence: Video." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. "Poet Benjamin Saenz Considers Uncertainty Along Mexico’s Violent Border." PBS. PBS, 30 July 2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. Saenez, Benjamin Alire. Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos, 2012. Print. Saenz, Benjamin Alire. The Book of What Remains. Port Townsend, Wash.: Copper Canyon, 2010. Print.